Mar
19
Video: Winner Stephanie Dee Answers Your Questions!
We collected some questions from the blog and sent a video producer along Sunday to record HGTV Dream Home winner Stephanie Dee’s answers. We’ve included the names of the submitters, so watch all the videos and see if she answers one of yours! Find out more about Stephanie and family in their profile.
HGTV DREAM HOME AND MORE
- HGTV Dream Home Central »
- Official Rules: HGTV Dream Home Live Giveaway Home Viewer Drawing
- HGTV Dream Home 2008 Online Tour
- Share Photos/Videos of the Florida Keys »
- The Shore at Islamorada: Site of HGTV Dream Home 2008 »
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Thank you to Anonymous who posted the link to the Money Central story about the homeowners who decided to keep their dream house. For all you really “stupid is as stupid does” folks who are posting thinking you are entitled to win, even though 39 million people entered this contest …. you are the people that really need to read this story. This is for people who do not understand how winnig is really like losing… yes I do mean that! Here’s the link again…
http://money.aol.com/cnnmoney/realestate/canvas3/_a/the-house-that-swallowed-don-and-shelly/20060627161909990001
I agree with Allison’s posting – March 23rd at 11:12. I was very confused by the winners’ lack of enthusiasm. Even after viewing the videos, I did not see a change in Stephanie’s demeanor. She seemed almost mad or dissapointed about winning. Her tears appeared to be from sadness rather than joy. I too felt sorry for Lauren. Naturally, like most of us, Lauren expected a little excitement or enthusiasm – a completely normal reaction to such a huge win. Even shy people can express gratefulness over winning property valued at over $2M – if not by emotion, at least in words. Stephanie did neither. If she really did know in advance that she was a winner and she was sad over the shock of the huge property taxes and insurance rates, then perhpas other bloggers have a good point: offer a prize that people can keep and be truly happy about. How much are the taxes and insurance on this property anyway? Disappointed, curious and confused.
Seems really nice that they picked her, since her home in Solon, Iowa was already worth over 300,000 and built in 2004-2005 time.
Next time pick someone who is alive and shows signs of happiness. Very disappointed.
how about doing the giveaway Oprah style where you go find the winner wherever/whatever situation they are in and give them a true surprise. then fly them to the dream home and let them see. i think that would be a more exciting and interesting show. the name can be announced at the beginning of the show and the excitement is SURPRISING him/her and their reaction when they are in the house — just like when you do the “reveal” for all your makeover shows!!!! what do u all think??
Dear HGTV – MY IDEA of a Dream Home would be a completely restored, beautiful historic OLD home – maybe an old farmhouse or Colonial-style house in New England, or an old Southern Victorian-style home – just some ideas. Not everyone’s style of a Dream Home is of a BRAND NEW CONTEMPORARY home.
YEA FOR THE WINNER! BUT IT WAS LIKE A GREAT WONDERFUL MOVIE WITH A WERID ENDING, SO DISAPOINTED OF THE LACK OF EXCITMENT! EVERYONE WAS WATCHING THIS GRAND FINISH AND IT WAS LIKE A GIANT BALLOON BEING DEFLATED!!!!
Good Morning Everyone
. Has anyone heard when stephanie and family are going to the dream home. What would be really cool is for HGTV to have a winners blog alittle different than this. So the winner could actually log on and answer alot of questions personally . I think that would help alot of people in understanding and to honestly get to know them a little better 
. Stephanie if you get a chance log on and let us know when you go to the house and possibly your future plans you have 
p.s take pics too. Congrats Sincerely
HGTV producers managed to hype this giveaway up very successfully then, they let the viewers down.
First: Don’t pretend to surprise the winner. This is not the case. A surprise is when the winner does NOT know they won! A few acting lessons might have been a good thing for the winner. My goodness, it was a pitiful display of happiness. Was she happy? I sure didn’t think so
Secondly: Build a house that people can afford to keep. Your locations are what raises the value of these homes to crazy high!
Thirdly: I’m not saying this winner did not deserve to win. It’s the luck of the draw. Too bad luck chose such an ungrateful winner though. Good luck to the Green Home winner. I only hope it is a person that truely could use such a break in their life.
While I “am” glad for this woman, she “did” enter 5x a week for this dream home and last year’s dream home. I couldn’t have been more let down by her “non-reaction” to winning. She did come off like she really couldn’t be bothered either way. And the husband had the audacity to say he only watches HGTV when he has to. He came off so smug. This is a “DREAM HOME”, you would think it was thier ultimate “dream” to win it. I would have been jumping up and down, screaming and crying like a fool, hugging everyone including the lighting crew.
Last year’s winner I don’t even know if he knew he was entered, I think the wife entered under his name …. he didn’t even recognize Joan from HGTV, then this year’s couple acting as if as some other poster here stated, “like she had won a cd from a local radio station”.
Everyone deserves to win, I don’t begrudge them the win – I just honestly would like to see someone win who it really “was” a “dream” for.
Keep building them HGTV! We, your loyal followers are out here! And I love the “Blog Cabin” and now the “Green Home”! I especially love the fact that these homes are priced in a range people can actually keep and live in. Paying taxes on these homes is not an impossibility, I like that, hoping that the winners will actually be able to live there and enjoy your efforts.
Congratulations to the Dee family!!! It is such an exciting experience and we wish you all the happiness you deserve. Enjoy the ride! (And, if you ever need to chat with a former winner, just contact us through the HGTV Message Board or ask HGTV…Emily…how to reach us.)
Congrats again, The Cruz Family
what i shame. i think me and my daughter were more excited for them then they were for themselfs!
Congrats. to the winner family! How does HGTV choose the winner?. I entered almost every day. When I saw the winners reaction, no one there seemed or looked surprised. It would be refreshing to see a winner show some surprise and happeniness at winning.
hi this message is for who ever organize this contest do i have to own a house and have a goood job and live very wealthy in order for me to win; all the contest winner that i have seen either they have their own bussiness or they they own a house what’s up wiht that i’m very happy for the winner but it looks like tehy already have their own house
What an ungrateful winner! She totally does not deserve it!
It’s a real shame that the winner didn’t show any ‘excitement’ at all about winning. She has her hands folded around herself and appeared that she was being bothered. Her husband seemed to try and balance the situation. It also appears that their home is quite nice and that perhaps this dream home could have gone to families that were more deserving.
Perhaps it would be rewarding and more productive for HGTV to consider producing a contest that would benefit many families that currently do not own or can afford a home and ask them to submit an entry containing their “dream furnishings”.
All the money to produce this home along with the furnishings and the car could better benefit those that are without.
Thank you and God bless.
THE WINNER OF THIS YEARS DREAMS HOME, WAS THE MOST UN DESERVING WINNER I HAVEM EVEN SEEN. IT WS LIKE IT WAS AN IMPOSITION TO HER. AND IT WAS ABOVE HER. I HAVE NEVER SEEN A MORE UN APRECIATED PERSON. I JUST HAD TO TURN THE CHANNEL AFTER WATCHING HER, RUDE GRADIFICATION.
ARE U GUYS OUT OF YOUR DAMN MINDS TO BE HAPPY FOR HER? THEY PAID THAT GIRL TO BE THE WINNER. WHY DO YOU THINK SHE WASN'T SURPRISED OR EVEN WATCHING THE SHOW. HMMM MAYBE SHE DOESN'T HAVE THE CHANNEL? NO! I THINK NOT! FOR SOMEONE WHO ENTERED EVERYDAY TO WIN AND NOT WATCH WHO'S THE WINNER IS A LITTLE STRANGE. GET WITH THE PROGRAM EVERYONE HGTV SUCKS ASS! FAKE ASS/ THE FREAKIN DOOR WAS OPEN WHEN THAT LADY SHOWED UP AT HER HOUSE. THEY BROUGHT THE PRIZE AND SHE ACTED LIKE SHE DIDN'T KNOW WHAT WAS GOING ON LIKE A FREAKIN DUMB ASS. OKAY I DONT MEANN TO SWEAR BUT THAT SHIT JUST PISSES ME OFF. THEY SHOULD'VE CHOSE SOMEONE ELSE, THEY WOULD'VE BEEN SCREAMIN JUMPIN AND EVERYTHING. AREN'T U GUYS MAD ABOUT THAT. NEXT TIME U SIGN UP FOR SOMETHING OF HGTV MAYTBE YOU SHOULD STOP ANDTHINK HOW FAKE THEY ARE!!
FDSGARE U GUYS CRAZY?! THEY PAID THAT GIRL TO BE THE WINNER. WHY DO YOU THINK SHE WASN’T SURPRISED OR EVEN WATCHING THE SHOW. HMMM MAYBE SHE DOESN’T HAVE THE CHANNEL? NO! I THINK NOT! FOR SOMEONE WHO ENTERED EVERYDAY TO WIN AND NOT WATCH WHO’S THE WINNER IS A LITTLE STRANGE. GET WITH THE PROGRAM EVERYONE HGTV SUCKS ASS! FAKE ASS/ THE FREAKIN DOOR WAS OPEN WHEN THAT LADY SHOWED UP AT HER HOUSE. THEY BROUGHT THE PRIZE AND SHE ACTED LIKE SHE DIDN’T KNOW WHAT WAS GOING ON LIKE A FREAKIN DUM ASS. OKAY I DONT MEANN TO SWEAR BUT THAT SHIT JUST PISSES ME OFF. THEY SHOULD’VE CHOSE SOMEONE ELSE, THEY WOULD’VE BEEN SCREAMIN JUMPIN AND EVERYTHING. AREN’T U GUYS MAD ABOUT THAT. NEXT TIME U SIGN UP FOR SOMETHING OF HGTV MAYTBE YOU SHOULD STOP ANDTHINK HOW FAKE THEY ARE!!
Hey, FC have the DEE’s visited their home? Will you have a special on that, and congrats to them again, any possibility? :>
I know my chances of winning any Dream Home are slim-much like winning the lottery.I do however, enjoy teaching my kids to always have dreams. As a Florida resident, I figured my chances of winning a dream home in the Keys were slim to none. With the upcoming Greem Home, we as a family are learning alot about Green living. My children are at an age where they are realizing that what we do now to preserve our resources, will one day effect their lives and their childrens as well. We will continue to enter every day and keep our fingers crossed! In the mean time, you’ve sparked an interest in a 10 and 11 year old to be eco-conscious wherever it may be.
congrats to the winner! i thought it would be funny if hgtv came to walmart during the overnight shift to let me know i had won! i would’ve shown surprise & all of my fellow associates, too….oh well, on to the “green house”….daughters in florida, maybe momma will win this one! i really do enjoy hgtv network….
Give them a break! Maybe winning wasn’t as big a deal for them as it would be for you and I. Many people who are highly educated act this way. Can you picture your doctor jumping up and down over winning. I can’t! I had a doctor friend once win a car in a local contest and did not even mention it to me the day after when we were together for a sporting event. I had to read it in the paper! People are different. Yes they were a little dry, but don’t judge them as people by that. I get sick and tired of all the sob stories on shows like Extreme Home Makeover. “Some” of these people are just flat out Lazy. You may not can help being poor, but to live in a dirty messy house is just flat Lazy! Quit waiting for someone to give you something. Get up off your butt and clean up your house and maybe your atitude will improve.
I watched your Dream Home giveaway and the winner actually made my mouth fly open because I was totally amazed and shocked at ungrateful the winner acted. She could care less. I would still be jumping for joy if I had won. I am sure a lot of other people who entered your contest would have been more grateful! The winner needs to learn some manners!!
I have heard a lot about the way she reacted and finally watched the video. She seems to be a very shy and quite person and they are not good in front of people or when they are caught off gaurd. She was crying the whole time and that is what you should be going on as far as how happy she is.
Regarding the comment on Extreme Home Makeover have you noticed that most of these people spend most of their time helping others in spite their living conditions and they don’t whine about it. They do send in a video but then the entire community is interviewed as to the worthyness of the family. They just don’t pick out the best video. So the families that are chosen are worthy of what they receive such a gift. In the first years the familys were not so needy.
HGTV and Winner,
Congratulations all around! I think that dealing with this valuable property would be a daunting challenge, but I’ll keep entering every year and hoping. And if I win, please remember, good viewers, that I do not exist to make good television for you. I am entitled to react in my own way. The level of maturity in so many of the early posts was 2nd or 3rd grade. They seemed to show a sense of entitlement on the part of those viewers; contests and other people exist simply for them and should not let them down OR ELSE!
I remenber the first Dream Home giveaway. The winners were completly beside themselves. If Stephanie was excited You could have fooled me!! Her reaction was devoided of any sincere emotion or gratitude. She was pre-occuupied with combing her fingers through her hair and handing the baby back and forth. It even stumped the interviewer and camara crew. It was like pulling teeth to get her to react and open her mouth and say some audible words to not only the live audience, but also to the viewers at home. It threw everyone for a loop. Especially with all the hard work, time, effort and COST! HGTV put into preparing for this Fiasco! When it was all said and done they had No Choice but to put the best snippets together for a commericial of her pretending to shed tears…. of happeness. Just call a spade a spade. Or do we have to roll the entire footage again for this supposedly Grateful example of a person!! I know somewhere Out there! there was someone else who REALLY could have used and MUCH MORE DESERVING! to have been selected and awarded a gem of a home. But who am I to say she DID NOT!! deserve Dream Home 2008! Oops! can someone REWIND the tape
I dont know this maybe my opinion but I think that some one else deserved to win the DreamHome. The way this person reacted was kind of like she didnt care that she just won a Million Dollar Home and Car!!! I mean i would have been Screaming my lungs out to find out that I had won!!! Well I guess there nothing we can but hope that they come to appreciated this blessing.
I think Stephanie did a horrible job of portraying excitement and enthusiasm of her winning the Dream Home. Her attitude showed she wasn’t all that pleased to have won. Come on, the woman was an instant millionaire. Who wouldn’t have been excited about that?
People…. please… get a life… Be happy for the couple, Looks like Ill be homeless again this year, but I’m happy for their great fortune. Better luck on the next go round. lol
I’d just like to add that I wasn’t at all impressed with Stephanie’s reaction…she seems to be a miserable woman and may not be deserving of such a fabulous gift!! Sorry! I am sure I’m not alone.
Did you already own your home in Idaho or were you renting?
Has any renter ever won the “Dream Home”. That’s when you’d see some jumping up and down, fainting, etc. – even if you told them two weeks before!!!
i agree with alot of you it seemed like stephenie already had a greta life her house was great her husband 2 kids they had a time share looked upper class it would have been more intresting to have someone who was poor win or struggling not someone who was well off
Emotional reactions differ from everyone when something happens. Don’t show arrogance and jealousy if you lose. This is a total chance contest, and no one “live” picks the winner. These forums, imo, need better moderating, and needs every negative comment removed. Only a few, it appears, have the virtue of being happy at another’s good fortune. Anyone who made any negative comments, or “disguised questions” needs banning.
u people must be kidding me the lady that won couldn’t have seen any less excited or any more ungrateful that she won! what a disappointment, the house could have gone to another family that could have been a lot more grateful, and excited at the least. The people who didn’t win at least want to see the winner jump for joy when they find out not mope around answering questions like it is a complete chore.
Too bad they are selling it, but it would be expensive to travel back and forth and insure it and pay the taxes each yr. HGTV does not think about that..they should not make the homes so big!! Hope they can sell it fast in today’s market.
Hi everyone check out the video with stephanie and her family . oh its really great , honestly , she has such cute little girls and they all look so happy, its very emotional seeing them walk thru for the first time , its kinda like you feel like possibly what they are feeling, I hope the dees get to keep their home. Or what ever they need to do for their family they are blessed. Enjoy sincerely from florida
I agree with the people who were turned off by the family and mostly Stephanie’s blah, drippy, unenthusiastic reaction. Why did she ever enter the contest if she was not going to be happy to win it? I entered almost everyday and would have been so happy and thankful especially to let the viewers see how generous it was of HGTV to give away such a great prize. Does she realize how many people entered that contest daily and and how she put such a damper on the results. I know HGTV can’t know what the winner will be like but maybe they could tell the winner a day before and then televise a grateful prepared reaction. No I am not reacting with jealousy, just that whether she is shy or not, she should have shown overwhelming happiness and not act like she was being bothered.
This is for people who do not understand how winnig is really like losing… yes I do mean that! Here's the link again…
<a href="http://money.aol.com/cnnmoney/realestate/canvas3/_a/the-house-that-swallowed-don-and-shelly/20060627161909990001” target=”_blank”>http://money.aol.com/cnnmoney/realestate/canvas3/…
Posted by Mad Hatter – March 31, 2008 4:00 PM
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Winning is NEVER like losing. There is a gain when one wins anything. This is what happens when one "wins". One starts with a "zero", adds the winnings, minus the costs, and whatever is left over is still "winnings". What is wrong when a couple, who obviously applied themselves in life, winning? Only on a blog will we get true losers saying negative things. If one hates the contest so much, go elsewhere. I am not an internet junkie, and I don't sit around thinking that I won already, and wanna jump off a bridge when I don't get computer picked to win.
Stephanie remains “the mistress of the underwhelmed”
Wow, this couple didn’t even seem excited about winning the home….. Too bad someone that really needed a home didn’t win.
Excitement, happiness, pain and sadness are all feelings that we manifested in different ways.
Some of us over react and others turn speachless and unresponsive.
Ugly, nasty comments are best left for The Soup, Im sure Mrs. Lee counts her blessings everyday, if not she would not have signed up for the sweeptakes to begin with.
This couple has the same bearing and expression of people who had just decided to get a divorce and have not told the family yet…I have watched all the videos and I hope she sells…the house is way to pretty for her special sort of gloom…geeez
Someone who “really needed a home” couldn’t afford to keep it. Most of the winners have sold the home because they couldn’t afford the taxes. If you get a $2 million gift, you have to pay taxes on it. And real estate taxes are pretty hefty. Since there’s no mortgage, the taxes have to be paid at once. Someone else said a poor or struggling person should win – they may jump up and down but they would never be able to afford to keep it.
Also, there’s a link somewhere on the HGTV site to the past winners and one of the previous winners described the process where they were told first that they had won. The lights and cameras came after which may explain her reaction.
If she knew ahead of time, she was probably stressing over how to keep the darn thing.